for people who don't apologize for their size
How to Write for FAT!SO?
FAT!SO? welcomes YOU - fat or thin, boy or girl, polka-dotted or paisley - to write about fat: your fat, his fat, her fat, our fat, the joys of fat, the fear of fat, the heartaches of fat, and so on.
Anyone who can pinch an inch has a story to tell. Waistlines are finite, but fat is an endless source of material.
One request: Please don't send me any fat-hating stuff or whining about diets. That's not what FAT!SO? is about.
It is about breaking the taboo around fat. So jump in. Have no fear. Pick a topic from the list or write about whatever's eating you. Use the space provided. Give me a paragraph or a page. (After all, size ain't shit. It's what you do with it!) Express you rage, your dismay, your extravagance, your delight. I'm eager to see what you've got to say, and I just might print it in the zine.
Cheers!
Marilyn Wann, FAT!SO? editor
Topic suggestions:
- What outrageous comments have you gotten about your body size. How did you respond at the time? What do you wish you had said?
- Try to remember the first time in your life that you were aware that you were fat (or thin, or whatever). Write about that moment.
- Write a letter to a part of your body. Tell that body part how it makes you feel, how it affects your life. Then imagine how that body part would respond to your letter; write its response as letter, too.
- What is your family's attitude about your weight? How do they express that attitude?
- What has being fat (or being thin) taught you?
- Look at an old snapshot of yourself. Describe how you felt about your body at the time of the photo and how you feel now when you look at the photo. Repeat the exercise with a current photo of yourself and try to imagine how it will look to you 10 or 20 years from now.
- What's your favorite fat joke?
- Describe one way you take joy in your body's size.
- Think of the most daring thing you've ever done. What influence did your body size have on that experience?
- Have you ever experienced discrimination for being fat? Describe what happened.
- What comments have you gotten from romantic partners about your body size? How did you respond? And how did their attitude affect your relationship?
- Pick a setting: school, work, a restaurant, a night club, your doctor's office, your therapist's office, the park, public transit, a movie theater, on vacation. Describe an incident when your body size was an issue in that setting.
- Write about your attitude toward your body at different sizes: 150 pounds, 250 pounds, 350 pounds, etc. What do those numbers mean to you?